She Will Be Loved
by Stace88
Summary: Buffy and co have been living in LA for the past year and a half, and she’s been avoiding Angel at all costs. Dawn, however, is conspiring with Willow, Xander, Anya and Giles to get the two of them back together. They are reunited, but wackiness ensues.
1. Chapter 1

She Will Be Loved

Title: She Will Be Loved. It's kind of based on the Maroon5 song.

Feedback: will be greatly appreciated, especially since it's my first fic...hinthint Please be nice.

Disclaimer: any characters that were not originally in either Buffy or Angel belong to me. Otherwise, they all are property of 20th Century Fox and Joss Whedon, one of the most brilliant men on the planet...yes, I am sucking up in hope of some Buffy/Angel TV movie or something.

Rating: uh, PG-13. I don't go any higher than that.

Time: Let's see...Buffy's 28 so that would mean...five years after the final episode.

Summary: I'm really bad at these, so let's see...Buffy and co have been living in LA for the past year and a half, and she's been avoiding Angel at all costs. Dawn, however, is conspiring with Willow, Xander, Anya and Giles to get the two of them back together. They are reunited, but wackiness ensues. There, that good? If not, then just shut up and read. I'm extremely blunt, I know. Gotta love me for it!

Distribution: please ask first. If I deem you worthy, then you may have it.

Author's notes: I haven't seen all of Buffy past seasons 1&2, so I'm relying on a lot of info from summaries and such. I'm planning on finishing up my collection as soon as Wal-Mart has the third season...stupid store that's supposed to have everything doesn't. They've got 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6. No 3 or 7. Darn them.

A/N 2: Cordy never died (didn't know she had) and Connor's 100% good. Just a bit on the hormonal side.

Warnings: Uh, prepare to get emotional. I do that sometimes with my writing. And I don't know how long it's gonna take between updates since school starts in a week and all. But I'll try my hardest to at least get one or two up every weekend.

Chapter 1 

Twenty-eight year old Buffy Summers grunted as she lifted the heavy bags of groceries onto the condo's kitchen counter. She began unpacking them and muttering to herself as her sister Dawn walked into the room.

"Buff? You patrolling tonight?" Dawn asked, moving to help her sister.

Buffy nodded, putting essentials into the fridge. "Xander's helping, and Anya might if she's feeling better."

"How come you don't get Angel to help you some night?" Dawn wondered aloud. She instantly regretted saying it as Buffy shot a glare at her that, if she wasn't used to it, would've made her cower or run for her life. "Okay...maybe I shouldn't have brought him into the conversation then."

"That's right, you shouldn't have," Buffy snapped. The sisters worked in silence for a bit, the only sounds coming from Buffy's muttering and her slamming of the soup cans onto the pantry shelf.

Finally, Buffy broke the silence. "Look Dawnie, I'm sorry about snapping at you, but it's just hard. What with the Angelus incident and all, I don't think I could take seeing him again."

"Plus all the stalking, watching and leaving you at the prom," Dawn added, putting the last few items away.

"Okay, that sure helped," Buffy grimaced at the memories those words brought back. She shook her head to rid herself of them, and then removed a DVD from a bag. "How does a Resident Evil fest sound to you? I've got all of them here. We could even invite Willow, Xander and Anya."

"I'll call," Dawn volunteered. She grabbed the cordless phone and left, heading for the living room.

Buffy jumped up onto the counter and swung her legs, letting her heels hit the cupboard doors. She shouldn't have gotten mad at Dawn for mentioning Angel. After all, she was just trying to look out for her sister. She knew how hard patrolling was for Buffy, having to be especially careful to avoid the area where Angel lived. Buffy herself was perplexed as to why she kept avoiding her ex-lover.

She shook her head and began getting things ready for the movie fest. No matter what, it was going to be fun. Buffy would make sure of that.

Half an hour later, the five friends were lying on the living room floor, talking and laughing. There were huge bowls of chips and popcorn all over the floor, along with glasses of pop and flavored water. The pre-show credits and such were playing on the TV, long forgotten by the group of friends. They were gossiping and doing each other's hair, just like old times.

"Guess who I ran into—literally—at the mall this morning?" Willow spoke up from where she was sitting, Buffy and Xander braiding her hair.

"Uh, Miss Evil Knevil herself, the one and only Cordelia Chase?" Xander guessed, using one of Willow's braids to hit her on the nose.

"Hey, you're getting better at this all the time!" Willow exclaimed.

Xander dropped both the braid and his jaw. "You're serious?" he squeaked. "You ran into Queen C of Sunnyhell herself?"

"Yup," Willow nodded, braids flopping everywhere. "She's changed a lot though. She's not just the old cheerleader bitch we loved to hate. It's like the old Cordy has been replaced with...well, someone else."

"She mention anything about the old boss?" Dawn asked, trying to sound non-chalant.

"Just that he's alive and kicking," the redheaded witch answered. She looked over and, upon seeing the pained look on Buffy's face, changed the subject. "So, we gonna watch the movies or what?"

"I have to make a quick call, but it won't take long," Dawn stood and fingered the curls Anya had put in her hair. She grabbed the phone from the top of the TV, wondering how it got there. Waving to her sister and friends, Dawn left and went to her room, shutting and locking her door.

Dawn stared at the phone for a second before dialing a number she'd memorized years ago after making the first call. She sat down on her bed, silently praying that the right person—or at least someone—was going to answer the phone.

"Angel Investigations," a familiar voice said, clearly in full-blown brooding mode.

"I didn't know you could be completely brooding and yet still answer the phone," Dawn joked, grinning at the fact that Cordelia hadn't answered the phone.

"Hi kid," Angel's voice suddenly became lighter and brighter. "What's new?"

"Patrol with Xander and possibly Anya tonight," Dawn informed him. "That's all I got out of her, other than the fact that she's a tad hostile. I kinda mentioned that maybe she should call you to patrol with her so Xander can take care of Anya."

"And she yelled?"

"She stayed silent, ignored, and then snapped," Dawn sighed. "Don't worry, I filled Xander in on the plan before he and Anya got here, so he knows the signal. It's all up to you now, Angel. You have to convince my sister that she needs you."

"And I need her," Angel whispered. "All right. Thanks Dawn. Thank you so much. You could have that place all to yourself soon if all goes well."

"It's going to be fine, Angel, it really is. You have my word," Dawn said firmly. She hung up and hugged a pillow to herself. Things had to be fine. They had to.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the story. This chapter's for you guys!

hr 

b Chapter 2 /b 

"Why is it that vampires always seem to know that I'm coming and run away?" Buffy asked as she and Xander strolled through one of the cemeteries a few blocks from Buffy's. "And furthermore, why do I live four blocks from a cemetery? I swore that I'd never do it again after Sunnydale."

"But here we are yet again, taking a walk through a creepy cemetery late at night, waiting for an undead or two to rise," Xander stated, twirling the stake he held in his hand. "Ah, just like old times, eh?"

"Yeah, old times," Buffy sighed. A shiver suddenly ran up her spine, but she shrugged it off and pulled her sweater tighter around herself.

"Cold?" Xander asked.

Buffy nodded. "Just got chilly all the sudden. Xander, I was just..." Buffy turned and found that he'd disappeared. "Xander? Come on Xand, this isn't funny."

Out of nowhere, four vamps suddenly had her circled, drooling as they stared at her. "Okay, this really isn't funny." Buffy launched herself, stake first, at the nearest vampire. She had him dusted in seconds. "Who's next?" she snapped, the other three bearing down on her and reinforcements emerging from nearby bushes.

Xander crept into the little ground-level treefort that Angel, Dawn, Willow and Anya were using as a hideout and sat down next to his wife. "She's all yours, A-man," he said, using the annoying name he'd bestowed on Giles years ago.

"Say that name again, and I'll have to kill you," Angel growled menacingly. "What was she doing when you left her?"

"Being typical Buffy and babbling on and on," Xander put an arm around Anya and pulled her close.

"No vampires or demons?"

"None at all," Xander shook his head. "Why?

A shrill scream echoed through the quiet LA night, coming exactly from where Buffy was. "That's why," Angel said, getting to his feet and sprinting off in Buffy's direction.

The others looked confusedly at each other. "Should we follow?" Willow wondered. She looked at all her friends and nodded once. "Right. Let's go then. They hurried off after Angel, the sounds of fighting getting closer and closer by the second.

Buffy, meanwhile, was trying to beat the crap out of five vampires, all stronger and slightly smarter than they looked. She'd already dusted another two to raise her nightly count to three. She had suddenly found herself outnumbered five to one, silently cursing Xander for ditching. Not that he would've been all that much help, but at least it would've evened up the odds a bit.

As she cursed him once more, two vampires grabbed her from behind and held her tightly. The leader vamp bared his fangs and hissed in delight as he approached Buffy. "Looks like I'm going to have the pleasure of killing the Slayer," he licked his fangs.

A loud growl came from Buffy's left, and she watched with the other four undeads as the leader was tackled away from the Slayer. Buffy used that precious second to pull herself out of their grip, retrieve her stake and make dust out of her captors. She narrowed her eyes and leapt at the two others whilst her savior fought the lead fangboy.

"Buffy, switch!" the stranger bellowed. He leaned forward and Buffy threw herself at him, rolling across his back with the fluid grace possessed only by the Slayer. She straightened up in time to punch the vampire in the nose. As he reeled back in pain, Buffy stared in shock at her fighting friend. She knew his moves, his grace...his voice. She'd been avoiding him for years, and he'd just saved her life.

"Angel?" Buffy said, paying no attention to the vampire advancing on her.

Angel himself staked both vamps with a broken branch and turned just as Buffy uttered his name. "Buffy, look out!" he roared, racing towards her.

Buffy looked around just as the vampire's fist connected with her temple, sending her flying backwards into a tombstone. There was a crack as her head hit it, and then she slid down to the ground, motionless and unconscious. Angel slammed a branch into the vamp's heart and was at Buffy's side before it exploded into dust, covering both him and his Slayer in it.

"Buffy? Buffy, are you there?" Angel shook her shoulders gently. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Buffy's head rolled to the side, revealing a stream of blood running down from a deep cut on her temple. Upon seeing this, Angel did the first logical thing that came to mind.

"Willow! Dawn, Xander, Anya!" he yelled, picking Buffy up and standing with her cradled in his arms.

The redheaded witch was first to appear, followed closely by Dawn, Xander and Anya. Willow stopped short when she saw Buffy, dangling almost lifelessly in Angel's arms. "Is she..."

"No Will, she's still alive," Angel said. "Almost comatose, but alive. We have to get her to the hospital. Fast."

"I'll get the car," Xander ran away as fast as he could, knowing that his best friend's life depended on it.

Angel turned to Willow, a strangely helpless look on his face. "Isn't there anything you can do?" he pleaded.

Willow muttered a few words in Latin, and Angel could see the cut stop bleeding and instantly heal. "That's all," Willow came up and lifted her friends eyelid. Her face turned so white that Angel could almost see the graveyard through her.

"Uh, I think you were just a tad off on the 'almost comatose' diagnosis," Willow whispered.

"What d'you mean?" Angel asked, getting more frightened by the second from the look on Willow's face. "Tell me, dammit!"

"She is comatose."


End file.
